Medical Should I finish college early and apply to medical school at 20?

[lord999]

I graduated with a ton of AP and College credits (none for core prereqs other than English, will take writing-intensive course(s) to meet that requirement). My current plan is to graduate college in 2.5 years and 2 summers. I would take ochem 2 the summer after my first year and study for the MCAT the next fall while taking biochem, physics, psych, and a physiology class. I would take it in January most likely and then assuming I got a good score, I would apply the next summer. It would be possible for me to take the MCAT in the spring if I need to

I'm planning on doing clinical work through potential matriculation and I would do nonclinical volunteering over breaks/summer. I currently have some nonclinical but I need more in underserved areas. I probably would not do much if any research.

I would be 20 at the time of interviews, so I know maturity concerns would be something I have to overcome

Assuming I can keep a high GPA and score well on the MCAT, do you think I would have the potential to be a competitive applicant or would I be rushing into it with a weak application?

It depends on experience, it's not just a numbers game. If you do not do research, you probably cannot be a competitive application for the research intensive schools. I am somewhat surprised that you did not opt for a pathways model. Don't hurry your MCAT, take the time to make sure you have the knowledge to succeed.

Also, and this is coming from someone who evaluates the chemistry sections for applications, Summer Organic Chemistry is a gamble which is usually lost. I highly discourage anyone taking a major requiring the class (including medicine and pharmacy) to do that class in the summer.

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[lord999]

What is the pathways model?

Basically, a direct medical school admission from undergraduate contingent on reasonable scores, sorry, that's probably called BS/MD Guaranteed Admission these days.

 

[Goro]

This is impossible to answer now.
Let's put it this way.

The median MCAT score for MD acceptees nationwide is 511.

For GPA it's 3.71

The typical candidate has > 150 hrs of both clinical exposure and nonclinical volunteering; and 50-100 hrs of shadowing. Then there's research and some sort of leadership.

 

[MusicDOc124]

Don't be so incline to rush completing college.

Overloading and taking summer courses still adds cost, so it won't really save all that much money (mostly saving on rent, which is relative because you still have to live somewhere unless living at home).

Rushing can also impede on your grades, your MCAT score, etc.

You'll be 20 as you state - many people still do not know what they really want to do. You might feel like you know now, but that could change, and college is a good time to explore your options or solidify your plan.

Also, the likely timing of your courses means you'd not save any time in the long run. Since some of the courses build on each other (i.e. Chem 1st year, organic in 2nd, biochem in 3rd), and the rushed nature of your plan will likely keep you from being able to really study for the MCAT - this leads to you not taking the MCAT until probably after graduation, which would otherwise be during what would be your final semester of 3rd year (when everyone else is also taking it). Then you'd have off for the year that would have been your Sr. year, but still interviewing at the same time you'd otherwise have been interviewing. Then you'd start still after 4 years assuming you got in.

Plans don't always work out, and I'm not saying this to discourage you. I'm saying this because it's a bit more of an intense plan than you may want or even suspect.

Just my .02.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Medicine is a marathon, not a sprint. You will not impress anyone on how fast you graduated. You will impress some with your track record demonstrating professional level empathy and insight into the profession and health care through your maturity and self-reflection. You probably should have applied for BS/MD programs but maybe you would not have gotten accepted to that track.

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[Mr.Smile12]

I don't think I would be overloading, Including the credits for this next semester, I have 57 required credits for graduation. I'm taking 13 this semester so that puts it at 44, 10 credits are over the summers, so I would have 3 semesters to take 34 credits and the additional classes I'd want on my transcript.

I definitely agree that I need to explore the career more, I haven't done any actual shadowing yet or had many clinical experiences, so there's the option that I decide medicine is not for me.

The biggest potential problems I can see in my schedule are not giving myself enough time to get hours/experiences, maturity, and me studying for the MCAT while I'm taking multiple classes tested on the MCAT.

It's not a finalized plan yet and I likely will change it, but I do find the idea of it interesting should I want to go down this path

What are you majoring in? How will you get research? What clubs would you be involved in at a leadership level? How's your mental resilience?

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[Mr.Smile12]

I am a biochemistry major. All of the med school prereqs are already built into my major. I have all of the normal electives complete.

I don't know what/ how I'd do research, that is something I do need to figure out. I've read that research is not the most important thing on an application but I'm guessing having zero would look odd.

Next year, I will get a leadership position in a club sport that I participate in and potentially in biochemistry club.

I'll see in the future just how resilient I am but right now I would definitely say that my mental resilience is high

I suspect that you may want to go to a top tier medical school given your ambition that I can perceive. Most of those top tier schools have a research-based curriculum, so while research may not be necessary for the bulk majority of schools, the top tier distinguishes themselves with wanting students who are inclined towards self-directed scholarship/research. It doesn't need to be bench-related though most of your biochemistry opportunities would likely be so.

I think I just read about one in four medical students struggle with mental health issues. I'm not sure that the number is correct, but burnout among physicians and health care providers is epidemic. In general if you think you're resilient now, chances are you will not be at some point. In other words, what will you do when you have to help others who have reached that breaking point?

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